Office Excitement

This is probably exciting only to me, but it's been awhile since I posted and this seems like as good a reason as any...

Innosight appeared in Craigslist Missed Connections Personals this morning!

For the uninitiated, Missed Connections is where people can post a message in an effort to meet back up with someone they met but didn't get contact info for. You'll get the idea when you read the post

Anyways, this is even more amusing given that the Innosight employee who was running the session is a 25 year old Mormon guy (married, no kids). Shortly after this link started circulating in the office, he updated his Facebook status to "I did not take the elevator last night" He claims it was his intern Austin who is the subject of the inquiry

There's another group tonight, and there's talk of responding to this girls' post (since Austin will be here. BTW, no one has ever seen this Austin kid, even though he's one of our interns) and then lurking about to see if we made a love connection.

Knowing us, it's all talk. But a happy distraction for a Tuesday

CONFIRMED - Eat Dirt. Live Longer

OK, not exactly. But very close.

For a while I've been lamenting the fact that kids don't play outside anymore and do all the things we did as kids - play tag (and the 932,874 different versions of it that can be spontaneously created), play baseball with 5 people (thank goodness for those Ghost Men who ran the bases), and, most importantly, spend hours gleefully playing with water, dirt, and mud.

These laments are often summed up by the statement, "That's why kids these days are always so sick. They don't eat dirt like we did. They need to eat more dirt." And, being someone who does not have kids, I am fully qualified to make these proclamations.

Now it seems that MSNBC.com agrees with me. Admittedly, this article leaves out those of us who came of age in the 80s but I think it still applies. Goodness knows, none of use ever wore a helmet when riding our bicycles (I still remember the kid on the news who was probably 10 years old when he explained to the reporter that he wouldn't wear a helmet because, "you can't pick up girls with a piece of Tupperware on your head")

Now, go feed your kids some dirt. They'll be better for it.

I'm not sure that's a compliment

Yesterday, just like every Tuesday morning, Matt and I went to visit our personal trainer, Cory. As we were sweating our our warm-ups, she happily announced that we were the inspiration for her latest venture.

As a bit of background, in addition to being a great personal trainer, she's started her own business focused on helping people adopt healthier lifestyles through exercise, better eating habits, etc. Right now it's just a blog with info about her boot camps and exercise tips like how to get a workout in while shopping.

So anyways, she announces that we're the inspiration for her latest product - a DVD/CD-ROM that will help people quickly identify bad habits and give them ideas on how the small steps they can take to be better.

"That sounds like a great idea!" we said, "why are we the inspiration?"

"It's titled 'Your job is killing you' and it's for workaholics."

Thanks.
It's one thing to think that your job is killing you, it's a whole 'nother thing to have that confirmed by someone else

Do you remember the Letter People?

The topic came up at work on Friday (yes, in the context of food, and yes, it is pretty sweet to work at a place where my random and strange thoughts are occasionally helpful) and NO ONE knew what I was talking about and EVERYONE thought I was crazy.

So, if you remember the Letter People, would you let me know? It will help to know that I'm not alone (even if it does turn out to be a show only people in Mentor watched)

And, if you want a stroll down memory lane, just check out some of the clips on YouTube

UPDATE - Getting Published

The first issue of Puffin Circus, the lit mag that picked up one of my essays, is now on sale.

Despite what the subscription page says, it's $0.99 for a downloadable copy and $5.99 for a bound copy.

If you've got the $0.99, please support the magazine that supported me!

Gergen-eriffic!

Loyal readers of this blog know that I have a slightly strange crush on (one of) CNN's Senior Political Correspondent, David Gergen. He is the voice of reason in the mad mad world of politics and cable news commentary.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see him in person AND hear him speak

He was speaking as part of The Cambridge Center for Adult Education's "Wicked Smart" series at the First Universal Church in Harvard Square. Matt joined me (I think he wanted to make sure I didn't try to run off with Mr. Gergen) for the 1.5 hour interview session. He spoke about a broad range of subjects - the economy, foreign policy, the Obama administration. But the topic that was most surprising and endeared him even more was his passion for education.

He became absolutely animated (if you've seen him on AC 360, you know what a change that is) when talking about the need to invest heavily in K-12 education, of its importance to every aspect of the nation, and its necessity to achieving our short and long term goals.

He's so wise. And that's why I have a strange crush on him and why I was so happy to finally see him in person

(BTW, he was on AC 360 later that night wearing the same tie. I got irrationally excited about that. )

End of an Era

You may have noticed that blog posts have slowed a bit. That's because last Monday, I finally got staffed. I'm working on an 8 week case and actually spent Tuesday in Chicago leading a 3 hour meeting (yes, that's a 3 hour meeting with the client exactly 7 days after we started the project).

Hours aren't much crazier than usual but it is cutting down on my blogging time. Sad, especially since these is so much to blog about! But I'll try to catch up this weekend so stay tuned :)